Louisville Wins Festival City Award

Nobody throws a party like Louisville. That was one of the claims heard at a ceremony on Friday where Louisville received the inaugural the World Festival and Event City award.

Louisville competed with other North American cities with a population of over one million. The city was named the number one city in that category for supporting festivals and special events.

Steven Schmader is the president of the International Festival and Events Association. His organization sponsored the award and presented it to Mayor Jerry Abramson at the KFC Yum Center.

Schmader said the international panel of judges were impressed by Louisville’s understanding of the importance of festivals and events. “Louisville gets events. They understand how important they are to a community. They understand how to use them for the residents but also how to use them to attract visitors.”

The Humana Festival of New American Plays, the St. James Court Art Show and WFPK’s Waterfront Wednesday were among the events singled out for recognition at the ceremony.